


Nesting

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: The Story of Us [9]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Family, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-15
Packaged: 2017-12-26 15:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It seemed improbable now that she’d somehow made it three months without his touch.  He barely made it without hers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nesting

**Author's Note:**

> I know I keep jumping time with this ship but I just write the ideas as they come to me. My imagination seems to go back and forth, buoyed by something I write in the fic before it.

** DECEMBER 1995 **

“Mommy?”

“Yes sweetheart?” Erin pulled down the Beauty and the Beast comforter and blanket on Nora’s bed. “Up and in.”

Nora jumped into her bed and her mother smiled.

“You're happy again.”

“Yes I am.”

“You're smiling too.” Nora said.

“Yes.” Erin nodded.

“Are you happy cuz of the baby?”

“Well babies do make people happy.” She pulled the covers up to Nora’s chin and tucked her in. Then Erin sat down on the bed. “I'm happy about a lot of things.”

“Like what?” Nora’s arms came from under the covers. She was clutching her stuffed teddy bear, Wilford.

“#1 of course is being your mommy.” Erin tickled her and the six year old giggled. She covered her mouth so she wouldn’t wake her sister. Mary Kate was already asleep in her bed.

“But you were sad before.”

“Sometimes people can be sad Nora. Life has moments that bring you up and then moments that drag you down. You should never be ashamed to be sad. But when you keep on going and good people love you, you'll always smile again.”

“Daddy loves you.” Nora said. When she used that matter of fact tone she sounded just like Mark.

“Yes, he does.”

“He’s happy too, probably because his back stopped hurting.”

“What do you mean, sweetie?” Erin asked.

“He didn’t sleep in the big bed with you because his back hurt. Remember Mommy?”

Erin had forgotten about that little white lie. Reason #512 to always remember what she told the children. Their minds were like steel traps. She and Mark never wanted to lie to their girls. 

Sometimes there was little choice in the matter. A six year old would never understand that Daddy had a sexual indiscretion, Mommy accidentally on purpose overdosed on Valium, and then they found out she was pregnant. It was hard to wrap her own mind around it sometimes. Erin needed Nora to stay innocent for as long as possible.

“His back is just fine now. I promise.”

“OK.” Nora smiled as she nodded.

“It’s time for a certain little girl to close her eyes and have sweet dreams.”

“I have to say my prayers first. Nana said they're important.”

“Then let’s say our prayers.”

Nora clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. Erin put one hand on top of Nora’s.

“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Dear God, watch over Mommy and Daddy, Mary Kate, Nana, Grandpa, and all my friends at school. 

“Also look after the baby in Mommy’s belly and baby Gray up in heaven. If you have some free time, I would also like a puppy. This is Nora Evangeline Cramer in McLean, Virginia. Thank you, amen.”

“Amen.” Erin couldn’t help the smile on her face. She even prayed for Gray. That was just so Nora. She was the same kind of big sister that Erin had been many, many years before. She kissed her daughter’s cheek. “Goodnight Nora.”

“Goodnight Mommy; I love you.”

“I love you more.”

She walked over to the door and turned off the overhead light. Erin heard her daughter’s sharp intake of breath. Nora calmed when the light from her Supergirl night light glowed over her bed. Erin blew her a kiss before pulling the door up. They never closed the bedroom door. When she was three, Nora stated at the breakfast table that she needed to be able to run for her life. While her parents had no idea where she got that, they obeyed her request.

In the master bedroom, Erin went over to her dresser. The pajamas in the top drawer were calling her name. Tonight was family night with the girls. Both Erin and Mark left their respective offices at 5pm. 

Since she was also working in DC, they drove home together. They made spaghetti for dinner, ate and conversed together as a family, and then watched Beauty and the Beast. It was Nora’s favorite film. Mary Kate loved Mrs. Potts and Chip.

“I don’t think I've held you enough tonight.” Mark came out of the bathroom, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “That’s a sin.”

“I can think of a few more sins we could commit.” Erin laughed.

He brushed her blonde hair aside and kissed the nape of her neck. She caressed his hand, relaxing her body on his. Mark stroked Erin’s expanding belly. They were back together for good and the Senator couldn’t be happier.

“I think you should tell me all about it Erin; slowly and with emphasis on certain words.”

“Nora told me tonight that we’re both happy and smiling again. She also mentioned that your back must no longer hurt since you're sleeping in the big bed with me.”

“She is the most observant child in the history of the world.” Mark said. He turned Erin around in his arms, kissing her mouth.

“You don’t know that many children.” She stroked his face.

“That’s true. Still, Nora notices everything.”

“Yes, she does. Please kiss me again.”

Mark had no problem indulging her. He would be content to kiss his wife every minute of every day. When Erin wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him as close as she could, he was in heaven. So was she when Mark rubbed her back.

“You're not going to need those pajamas.” He whispered.

“No?”

“No.” Mark shook his head.

“There are some things I need to talk to you about before bed.”

“OK.” Mark gently took the pajama shirt from her hands. He put them back in the drawer.

Erin led her husband over to the bed. When they sat down, his hand immediately rested on her belly. She didn’t think there would ever be enough words to describe how much she loved that. Mark was such a tactile man. Over the decade they'd been together he helped Erin break past her constant need for personal space. 

She still wanted it with most other people but never with her husband. He was always so loving and touchy when she was pregnant. That was actually the only positive about the condition these days. It seemed improbable now that she’d somehow made it three months without his touch. He barely made it without hers.

“Kirk was able to get the Unit Chief Start date pushed back from January 10th to April 1st.” she said.

“That’s good news.”

“Well, yes and no. The baby is due on March 10th so that only gives me three weeks at home before returning to Quantico.”

“Oh wow. I definitely don’t think that’s enough time to bond with the baby, Erin.”

“Neither do I.” she shook her head. “I don’t have a lot of choice in the matter. Kirk has already stuck his neck out far enough for me. I've worked really hard for this job and the pregnancy wasn’t exactly planned. I'm happy about it but…”

“I understand.”

“Do you?” Erin looked in his eyes.

“Yes. You’ve worked really hard for everything you have in the Bureau. This job is a good place for you. I'm just concerned that you won't be able to properly bond with our child. I'm not concerned for me, I'm concerned for you.”

“I need to start at BAU 2 on April 1st. Women have been in the Bureau for 22 years but we’re still clawing our way through the thorns of the boy’s club. God forbid I bleed once a month and bring life forth from my vagina.”

“Thank you, my love, for that visual.”

“I'm sorry.” Erin leaned her head on his shoulder. “I think I have a plan though…wanna hear it?”

“Yes I do.” Mark nodded.

“My mother and I talked yesterday afternoon. We thought maybe she could come and stay with us for a few months to help out. I’d work from 8 to 4 for the first thirty days so I can have evenings with the girls and the baby. She seemed enthusiastic about it. I know traditionally that in-laws don’t get along but…”

“You know that I love your mother.” Mark said.

“You're scared of my father.”

“I am not…he hates Republicans.”

“No, he hated Reagan.” Erin said. “There's a difference. And he didn’t think Bush focused enough on domestic policies.”

“Modern Republicanism is based on the Reagan model, Erin.”

“Please don’t say that in front of my father.” 

“I already did, in 1989, hence his hating me. What's he going to do without your mother for a few months?”

“My father can take care of himself.” Erin replied. “It’s not going to be forever and my brothers live in Manhattan. They’ll look after him. This isn’t going to offend your mother is it?”

“Of course it won't…especially since I have no intention of telling her.”

Erin laughed. Mark kissed her temple.

“If your mom coming to stay with us makes the transition easier for you and the kids then I'm fine with it. I have no doubt we’ll all get along.”

“She adores you.” Erin said.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn but that’s pretty easy to do.”

“Toot, toot.” She smiled, squeezed his nose, and then got up from the bed. “I need to use the bathroom before I explode. Your child likes to tap dance on my bladder.”

“How come when it’s a bad thing its ‘my child’?”

Erin just gave him a look as she made her way to the master bath. Mark grinned. He got up from the bed, pulling down the blankets. He sprayed their pillows and mattress with lavender scent. It helped Erin sleep. Mark got into bed, picking up his biography of George VI by Phillip Ziegler. When she came out he stared at her above the book.

“You're staring at me.” She said.

“You are so damned beautiful.” He said. “I can't help myself.” 

“I'm the size of a humpback whale.”

It was the first week of December and Erin was six months pregnant with their fourth child. She was carrying a pair of yoga pants, which she wore all the time at home as she grew bigger and bigger. At the moment she was dressed only in a pair of bikini panties, under her belly, and a Doobie Brothers ’80 U.S. Tour maternity tee shirt. Erin bought the shirt when she was pregnant with Mary Kate at a great little hippy maternity store in Towson.

“You're the most beautiful whale I've ever seen.”

“Well my back hurts so you're going to have to admire me from afar tonight.” She climbed into bed.

“You want a back rub?” Mark asked.

“Seriously?”

“As if I’d ever turn down an opportunity to touch you.” He put the book back on the nightstand. “You deserve to feel good and I'm always going to make sure that you do.”

“Mmm,” Erin slid further down on the mattress. “Touch me Senator.”

“I couldn’t resist even if I tried…which I won't.”

He grabbed the massage oil from the nightstand drawer. She sighed before he even touched her. Mark lifted her tee shirt, running his fingers down her spine. He couldn’t help but inhale the scent of her skin. She always smelled so good. 

Kissing the nape of her neck, he got to work. Mark smirked thinking about attempts to romance his wife amidst three children under 10, a mother-in-law, a Senate campaign, and a Bureau promotion. It wasn’t going to be easy but nothing was impossible. He and Erin somehow always made it work. Their marriage was a job too; they planned to excel at it just as they did everything else. It was being able to end everyday together that made all the other things worth it.

***


End file.
